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Mike Tyson
Michael Gerard "Mike" Tyson (born June 30, 1966) is a retired American professional boxer. Tyson was the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world and currently holds the world record as the youngest boxer in boxing history to win the WBC, WBA, and IBF world heavyweight titles. He won the WBC when he was just 20 years, 4 months, and 22 days old, after defeating Trevor Berbick by a TKO in the second round. Throughout his career, Tyson became well-known and famous for his ferocious and intimidating Boxing style as well as his controversial behaviour both inside and outside the ring - particularly amongst mainstream media. Nicknamed "Iron Mike" and "The Baddest Man on the Planet" from his prime onwards, Tyson won his first 19 professional bouts by knockout, with 12 of them occuring in the first round. He unified the belts in the splintered heavyweight division in the late 1980's to become the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. Tyson became the lineal champion when he knocked out Michael Spinks in the first 91 seconds of the fight. Tyson eventually lost all three of his titles to 42-to-1 underdog James "Buster" Douglas on February 11, 1990, in Tokyo, Japan, by a knockout in round 10 - his first loss during his career after a total of 37 successful won fights. After his first loss in 1990, he went on to fight three more Boxers, winning against them all - Henry Tillman (KO), Alex Stewart (TKO), and Donovan Ruddock twice (TKO, with the rematch won by Tyson with an UD/Decision). However, in 1992, Tyson was convicted of raping Desiree Washington, for which he was sentanced to six years in prison but was released after serving three years. After been released from prison in 1995, he engaged in a series of comeback fights. He regained a portion of the heavyweight title, before losing it to Evander Holyfield in a 1996 fight by an 11th round TKO. Their 1997 rematch ended when Tyson was disqualified for biting off a part of Holyfield's ear - Mike claiming he did this because Evander was headbutting him while angry because the referee was doing nothing. He eventually fought for a championship again at 35, losing by knockout to Lennox Lewis in 2002. Tyson declared bankruptcy in 2003, despite receiving over US$30 million for several of his fights and $300 million during his career. Tyson is considered to be one of the greatest heavyweight boxers of all time. He was also inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame. He is also known for fighting other great heavyweight boxers such as Lennox Lewis, Trevor Berbick (who defeated Muhammad Ali at the end of Ali's career) and Evander Holyfield. Tyson is also the only heavyweight boxer to individually unify the WBC, WBA and IBF titles. He is ranked #16 on Ring Magazine's list of 100 greatest punchers of all time. Tyson appears in two of the Fight Night series of video games. This includes Fight Night Round 4 and the newest Fight Night Champion. He is a selectable heavyweight boxer that is available for usage in Legacy Mode, Online, or as a regular quick exhibition match agianst the CPU/AI. Tysons actual boxing style is well mimicked in these games. Boxing Style Tyson was famous for his ability to knockout his opponents very quickly - within the first three rounds. Out of a total of 56 fights at the end of his career in 2005 - 44 were won by knockout. During his prime in the 1980's, 33 out of 37 of his total prime fights ended by knockout - the remaining 4 were won by decision. Tyson went undefeated in his prime. The reason for these quick knockouts and his success was because of his boxing style. Tyson was a very explosive fighter. Almost all of his opponents were much taller than Tyson (Around 6"0 or 6"5) (Which was normal for heavyweights), where as Tyson was only 5"11. Likewise, Tyson had a very compact body shape. This led Tyson to adopt the style of an 'inside fighter', since most of his opponents had a reach advantage in terms of punching range. Tyson was extremely dangerous when close because of his sudden explosiveness amongst other things. Tyson was also famous for having a very powerful punch. His Hooks and Uppercuts in particular - were devastating. It wasn't just heavyweight punching power which made Tyson one of the best. Tyson also had unusually fast hand speed/punching speed for a heavyweight (on par with that of a middleweight), his combination punching in particular - was very fast, rather than his singular punches. Tyson is also considered to be one of the most elusive fighters in boxing history. Many of his opponents found it very difficult to hit him at long or close range. This was because of his head movement and his ability to slip punches and 'bob and weave'. He was very fast at doing this - with very good technique, this is what Tyson primarily relied on for his defense from which he would often launch a devastating counter-attack combination. He would also use his head movement ability along with his Jab to get in close - especially against much taller opponents. Boxing critics also consider Tyson to have had a very good chin (he could take punches). Tyson also had a huge 20" neck which helped absorb punches. Tysons primary strategy was to get in close and corner his opponents against the ropes or corner by using his footwork while 'cutting off the ring' and pushing his opponent. While doing this, he would use a combination of head movement and Jabs to avoid his opponents punches. Once he got in close, he would launch a series of devastating combinations. Usually consisting of 3-punch combinations. He would often hit the body first, then go for the head in a single combination. One of his most used and famous combinations was a body uppercut followed by a head uppercut with the same hand. Another commonly used combination was a left hook followed by a right hook to the face (often haymakers), he would also commonly utilize 3 body hooks into a head hook. He would still use his fast head movement to avoid his opponents punches when close. Tyson would also often try to launch an uppercut or hook while in the clinch if the opponent attempted to tie-up in the clinch. Tyson mastered the Peek-a-Boo style, in which he always used. This is where both hands are kept directly infront of the chin (just below the eyes). This allows the boxer to punch the face faster, protect his own face faster, and utilize head movement more effeciently and comfortably. This style was invented by legendary Cus D'Amato. Cus D'Amato was Mike Tysons trainer and guardian during his very early stages of Boxing within his ametuer career abd beforehand. After which he was trained by Kevin Rooney (who was mentored by Cus D'Amato) during his professional career. Overall, Tyson was also considered to be a very exciting boxer to watch.thumb|310px|left|Mike Tyson's style in his prime Category:Boxers